Asearching,captivatinglookatthepersistenceofmythinourmodernworld
"Bynaturevolatileanddiscordant,thehumananimallookstosilenceforrelieffrombeingitselfwhileothercreaturesenjoysilenceastheirbirthright."
Inabookbyturnschillingandbeautiful,JohnGraycontinuesthethinkingthatmadehisStrawDogssuchacultclassic.
Graydrawsonanextraordinaryarrayofmemoirs,poems,fiction,andphilosophytoreimagineourplaceintheworld.WritersasvariedasBallard,Borges,Freud,andConradhavebeenmesmerizedbyformsofhumanextremity—experiencesontheouteredgeofthepossibleorthattipintofantasyandmyth.Whathappenstouswhenwestarve,whenwefight,whenweareimprisoned?Andhowdoourimaginationsleapintoworldswaybeyondourrealexperience?
TheSilenceofAnimalsisconsistentlyfascinating,filledwithunforgettableimagesandadelightintheconundrumofourexistence—anexistencethatwedecoratewithcountlessmythsandideas,wherewetwistandturntoavoidacknowledgingthatwetooareanimals,separatedfromtheothersperhapsonlybyourself-conceit.IntheBabelwehavecreatedforourselves,itisthesilenceofanimalsthatbothreproachesandbewitchesus.